Band 5 Pre-Specialist Biomedical Scientist

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for you to join University Hospitals Birmingham, one of the largest teaching hospitals in England with state-of-the-art facilities and employing over 20,000 colleagues across 4 sites (Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals).

We are looking to appoint an enthusiastic individual with experience in Microbiology, who must be HCPC registered as a Biomedical Scientist. This role is based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital with off-site work at our satellite laboratory at the Whittall Street Clinic, but there may be a future requirement to work across all sites that are part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

Microbiology is part of the Clinical Pathology department, providing a patient-focused quality service that is committed to the trust values.

The Microbiology department provides a dynamic service that actively promotes innovation and service development. We are committed to staff health and well-being, training and development enabling and equipping staff with the tools to embark on an exciting and fulfilling career in Biomedical Science.

You will be part of a UKAS accredited service, made up of a specialist and experienced team of 70+ staff, all working towards a common goal.

Main duties of the job

The candidate will be expected to have an understanding of areas within Microbiology and Virology. They will be required to take responsibility for their work while they are rotating around the laboratory. We are looking for people who work well within a team and have a patient-focused attitude with quality in mind.

In providing a 24/7 health service, there is a requirement for working at weekends and on statutory and public holidays; participation in overnight shifts as well as late shifts would be necessary.

Main Duties

1. To safely handle, use and dispose of biological samples including blood, urine, faeces, CSF and semen, body tissues and other body fluids/samples and hazardous and/or radioactive chemicals. Be aware these samples can isolate ACDP hazard group 2 and 3 organisms.
2. To maintain compliance with good laboratory practice, quality assurance procedures in accordance with the standards of UKAS ISO 15189:2022.
3. To ensure that all results are reported within the agreed turnaround time and report to Duty Senior of any non-compliance.
4. To be familiar with and ensure compliance to national, Trust and departmental Health and Safety policies e.g. risk assessments and COSHH assessments.
5. Be confident in automated instruments and equipment like the Vitek2, Maldi MS, BacTAlert, DS2, Panther, Cepheid's. Maintenance and problem solving will be crucial.

About us

We are recognised as one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK. Our vision is to Build Healthier Lives, and we recognise that we need incredible staff to do this.

Our commitment to our staff is to create the best place for them to work, and we are dedicated to:

1. Investing in the health and wellbeing of our staff, including a commitment of offering flexible working where we can;
2. Offering our staff a wide variety of training and development opportunities, to support their personal and career development objectives.

UHB is committed to ensuring that our staff are treated fairly and feel that they belong, by creating a kind and inclusive environment. This is about equity of opportunity; removing all barriers, including discrimination and ensuring each individual member of staff reaches their true potential, achieves their ambitions and thrives in their work.

Job description

Job responsibilities

*Please Note: For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science or equivalent academic achievement that is ratified by the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)
• State registration with Health Professions Council (HPC)
• Evidence of continuing professional development and proficiency in accordance with HPC guidelines.

Desirable

• Working towards completion of post registration specialist competency portfolio.

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in clinical laboratories.
• Experience of laboratory techniques and automation.

Desirable

• Experience of dealing with suppliers, clinical and support staff, the public or customer care.

Additional Criteria

Essential

• Numerate and able to undertake scientific calculations with and without the use of aide.
• Perform in a team.
• Manual dexterity to undertake automated, manual and specialised techniques
• Good and accurate IT input and MS Office skills
• Effective communication skills both written and oral.
• Demonstrate logical thought processes and the ability to solve problems and plan remedial action.
• Honesty
• Reliability
• Resilience and adaptability
• Self-motivated.
• Positive attitude.
• Expected to participate in all out of hours periods as required by service provision.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.

Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Address

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mindelsohn Way

Birmingham

West Midlands

B15 2TH

Employer's website